Backing sheet for use in preparing manifold copies



April 23, 1935. 5 coo- E 1,999,015-

BACKING SHEET FOR USE IN PREPARING MANIFOLD COPIES Filed April 9,1934

Patented Apr. 23, 1935 UNITED STATES BACKING SHEET PATENT OFFICE For: use m rneranmo This invention relates to a backing sheet havingnear one end a plurality of integral tongues which normally lie in the plane of the sheet, the tongues being adapted to flex outwardly a sumcient distance to receive the edges of other paper sheets which are thereby aligned and clamped in place to facilitate the positioning of all such sheets preliminary to and during the operation of making impressions thereon.

A backing. sheet of this character is advan-. tageous in that it facilitates the proper alignment. of a number of sheets which include intermediate carbon slieets. By reason of the conditions encountered in service, such a backing sheet is required to bend, as when passing around the platen of a typewriterl or other recording.

machine. It accordingly must be flexible to do this. As part ofthe backing sheet, I provide several tongues near one end, arranged in alignment, to form (1) stops for the adjacent ends oi. the paper sheets which are to receive impressions, as well as the intermediate carbon sheets, and. (2) a clamp by which these several sheets are maintained in proper aligned position while receiving impressions. It is'with the end in view of providing a backing sheet of simple yet. effective construction for the purposes indicated that my invention is concerned.

' one end with a series of U-shaped incisions 5.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a view in perspective of the backing sheet per se;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the sheet showing a bend in the end in which the tongues are formed, as when receiving the edges of the paper sheets which are to be aligned;

' Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the paper sheets properly positioned upon the backing sheet;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the backing sheet together with the paper sheets assembled thereupon, as when placed around the platen of a typewriter or other printing machine;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a backing sheet of modified construction showing its tongues in clamping relation to aligned paper sheets thereon and Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail in section on line 6 of Fig. 5.

The present backing sheet S is of a size for cooperation with paper and carbon sheets which are to be operated upon by a printing or recording machine such, for example, as a typewriter. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the sheet is provided near each defininga tongue 6. The material of which the present backing sheet is made should be carefully selected. Celluloid or heavy cellophane is suggested as suitable. For the purposes of my invention it is desirable that such a sheet be both flexible and resilient, the former so that it may bend as required in use,'and the latter so that its tongues will tend normally to remain in a plane which is coincident with that of the sheet. By reason of the incisions which produce the tongues, the sheet stock therebetween is somewhat weakened. It follows that the resiliency of the sheet between the tongues is reduced in consequence. This is of advantage as will presently be pointed out.

In the handling of a backing sheet, as just described, the several tongues may be brought to a common angular position in relation to the sheet, if the latter be bent as described in Fig. 2. This position of the tongues is, of course, abnor- .mal. They tend to return to their original plane which is coincident with that of the sheet, and will do so whenever the sheet is restored to flat condition.

With the tongues in angular position, as shown in Fig. 2, the insertion of a number of paper and carbon sheets C is greatly facilitated. When so inserted, the several paper and carbon sheets will be correctly aligned with respect to each other. In addition, they will be clamped by the several tongues which tend in unison to spring back to their normal positions in the same plane with the backing sheet. At the same time the weakened sheet stock between the tongues may allowthe backing sheet to bend somewhat as indicated in Fig. 3, so that the edge of the backing sheet adjacent which the tongues are formed will lie in a plane about midway between the outermostpaper sheets which are assembled upon the backing sheet.' 7

In positioning the backing sheet with its assembled paper sheets within a typewriter, or other machine, a bending around a platen P is required.

In executing this movement the several sheets relative positions of the backing and paper sheets are about as indicated'in Fig. 4. It will be noted that the clamping action of the spring tongues continues unimpaired. The effect of the .backing sheet so used is both to improve the alignment nad securement of the papers to which impressions are imparted and to improve the impressions so imparted, particularly if the platen or other percussion bed be worn or dei'ective.

At the conclusion of the. printing operation, the paper sheets may; of course, be removed with little or no efiort from the backing sheet. When their clamped edges are free of. the several tongues, the latter will spring back to their original flat positions into coincidence with the plane of the backing sheet which is then ready for reuse in the manner already explained.

Reference to Figs. 5 and 6. will disclose a backing sheet S of slightly modified construction. Here the tongues l6 are produced by incisions l5 of semi-circular form terminating, by preference, in rounded holes I4 all disposed in a common line near one end of the backing sheet. The paper sheets C,'with intermediate carbon sheets, are arranged upon this backing sheet with one edge of the positioned sheets received beneath the spring tongues l6 which are raised sufiiciently for this purpose. The several paper and carbon sheets so arranged upon the backing sheet may be shifted into register with one longitudinal edge of the latter so as to be aligned therewith. A further alignment of the ends of the paper and carbon sheets is efiected by means of the tongues l6.

In the construction of Figs. 5 and 6 the tongues are somewhat wider than those previously described, and in addition lie between holes at the ends of each incision. As a result the flexibility of the tongues is somewhat enhanced in the line of the several holes I 4. At the same time these wider tongues are endowed with suflicient strength to bear with pressure on the clamped edges of the paper sheets. Also in consequence of the wider tongues shown in the construction of Figs. 5 and 6, the openings I2 produced by the incisions l5 are of correspondingly greater width, with the result that the pressure exerted from above by the tongues will tend to deflect the paper sheets into these openings, as clearly indicated in Fig. 6. This deflection of the paper sheets is facilitated by the holes I4 at opposite sides of the tongues, these holes constituting a flection of the backing sheet along its edge adjacent each of the tongues. This is due to the forces set upat intervals by thetongues pressing downwardly in opposition to the relatively wider intervening portions of the backing sheet itself at points just beyond the confines of the tongues. The amount of this deflection or distortion, both of the paper sheets into the openings I2 and of the backing sheet between such openings, will depend upon such factors as (1) the resiliency and (2) the flexibility of the backing sheet, as well as (3) the number or thickness of the clamped paper sheets which affects the stillness or flexibility thereof. The tendencies to distortion just noted, as well as the indications thereof as presented in Figs. 5 and 6, may be taken as typical of a usual condition which accompanies the use of the present backing sheet which is both flexible and resilient. By reason of this yieldability of the sheet, as well as of the paper which is secured thereon, the one part may better accommodate itself to the other, thereby distributing to both parts the distortion or deflection which, in some degree at least, must take place.

A backing sheet of the kind described is serviceable only if it will function satisfactorily over a considerable period of time. The aligning and locking function of its tongues should not be im-; paired through use. The movement of the tongues to angular position for reception of the edges of sheets to be aligned and clamped should be accomplished with little or no effort. These conditions are met satisfactorily in the backing sheet of my invention whichis advantageous in the several respects noted.

I claim:

1. A backing sheet of the kind described formed of a flexible resilient material having near one edge thereof incisions which provide a plurality of aligned spring tongues extending at substantially right angles to said edge adapted normally to lie in the plane of the sheet whose stock is weakened by such incisions sufliciently to permit curving of the tongues and adjacent edge portions of the backing sheet transversely of the length of the tongues when deflected out of the plane of the sheet, the tongues being so spaced as to reduce resiliency between the tongues whereby to flex in an opposite direction more readily there than elsewhere for ready accommodation of paper edges inserted between the backing sheet and the several tongues.

2. A backing sheet of the kind described formed of a flexible resilient material having semi-circular incisions'terminating near one edge of the sheet to provide a plurality of aligned spring tongues extending at substantially right angles to said edge and tending normally to lie in the plane of the sheet, said tongues being spaced a distance greater than the width of a tongue and adapted when deflected to curve transversely of their length to the adjacent edge of the sheet to bear with pressure against the edge portions of papers inserted between the backing sheet and the tongues so as to deflect portions of such paper edges into the sheet openings defined by the incisions, the intervening portions of the backing sheet itself being correspondingly but reversely deflected between the tongues in response to the opposing pressures of the tongues and backing sheet.

. FRANK S. COOPER. 

